Dusk till Dawn
by MadAsAMage
Summary: The war between the Sith and the Jedi has been going on and off for almost a millennium but how long the current fragile truce between them will hold? Young Jedi Rey unwittingly finds herself at the heart of the conflict that's been tearing the galaxy and one particular family apart and must learn to navigate the murky waters between Light and Dark. AU. Reylo, Good Ben, Sith Luke.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.

* * *

 **Prologue**

Rey wiped off the blood from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes never left the enemy, her steps never faltered as they continued to circle each other slowly. Her good arm was steady, and the broken left forearm was pressed against her stomach. Rey's breathing and heartbeat were calm. There was no emotion, no fear, that had become her mantra and she had promised herself years ago never to be afraid of dying.

Death was her lover tonight.

As she was gazing into the cold, red-rimmed eyes of her Sith adversary, she suppressed a shudder. The yellow of his corneas chilled her to the bones. The hate radiating from the figure was enough to choke on, the power of the Dark Side was so tightly wrapped around him that she had troubles discerning where the man began and when the aura of malevolence ended.

"Rey!" a faint shout of desperation echoed through the forest. "Rey, damn it! Where are you? Rey!"

He's going to be late, she knew. She felt it in the Force. The tremor ran through it with all the intensity of a dying sun. There was no denying it. She was going to die – and if this was her end, she would go as all Jedi went.

"REY!" The hoarse cry sounded slightly closer but still so far away. The blood loss would get to her soon if the red blade didn't do its job first.

"I'll leave your body in one piece for him to find," said the Sith, his lips lifting in a small smirk. "He'll appreciate it; to hold you one last time, to steal one last kiss from your cold, bloodless lips."

"REY!"

That voice. Never before had Rey thought that this would be the last thing she would ever hear and that a Sith lord's smile would be the last thing she would lay her eyes upon. Her concentration broke, just for a moment, but it was enough. Emotions flooded her, and Rey's lips trembled as a strangled gasp left her mouth. Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision of the man who was going to kill her, and the light inside of her that would be denied the opportunity to grow and shine.

Rey reached into the Force, seeking guidance and strength to fight but found only a soothing comfort instead. Fighting was pointless. _This_ was her fate. Blinking, two salty drops trickled down her cheeks.

So be it. Rey straightened her posture and turned off the lightsaber, defiantly raising her chin. "I won't fight you anymore. Strike me down if that's your wish. By doing that, you won't reach your goal. Spilling my blood will bring you a hollow victory for we are one with the Force."

The Sith's eyes flashed, and he bared his teeth, lunging forward with a growl. As the red blade sung about her imminent end, Rey closed her eyes and let go of everything, her other hand coming to rest on her stomach, perhaps subconsciously protecting the life inside. Her last living moments wouldn't be spent in fear, or pain, or sorrow. She wouldn't be pretending or hiding anything. She wouldn't leave the world defeated, nor broken. In her life, Rey Kenobi had been many things but most of all, she had been loved, and she had been happy, and that's how she chose to depart. Loved and loving.


	2. Chapter 1

AN1: I can honestly say that exploring the role reversal between Luke and Ben is absolutely amazing. Let's see where it will lead ;) Thanks for reading and don't be shy to leave a comment ;)

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Padawans were generally the last to know when something important had happened. Rey found it particularly annoying since she was a senior Padawan and had all the responsibilities and none of the privileges of a Jedi Knight. She was patrolling the sleeping quarters, making sure the younglings were not out of their beds after the curfew and wished for her shift to end.

 _That's what you get for talking back to Master Windu_ , she thought to herself and headed down a darkened hallway. Rey was one of the few senior Padawans in the secret Reeata Temple, and they usually took turns with the younger ones, a chore not particularly liked by anyone, and the Masters knew. Assigning one of them this duty was a form of punishment.

It wasn't that the older Padawans disliked the children, no. For Rey, being around the kids was hard seeing that she had called the Coruscant Temple her home originally, like the rest of the Jedi on Reeata. She remembered the spacious hallways, rooms full of light and laughter with high ceilings, the lights of the city outshining the stars, Master Yoda's jokes, Windu's humor hidden behind his strict mask.

That was another lifetime ago. The Coruscant Temple had burnt to the ground, and the Jedi lost five-sixths of their young ones in that attack and had to flee the capital. Rey was one of the younglings to survive, last of her line, and her life had changed drastically from that moment. Fifty years ago, there had been six thousands of them, thriving in great Temples across the galaxy. Now, there were five hundreds of them, hiding in secret locations behind heavy gates and shield generators. For the first time in five hundred years, the Jedi were on the defensive. Yoda wasn't joking anymore, and Master Windu's health was quickly deteriorating.

The only thing that brought comfort to her, who had lost her entire family in the war, was the Sith were experiencing equal losses, both religions driving each other to the point of extinction. The dwindling numbers of Force-sensitives on both sides had been the reason for a truce offered by Vader himself.

Rey wondered how long the ceasefire would hold. The Sith couldn't be trusted. They didn't care for anything but themselves, and their only goal had always been destroying the Jedi, even at the cost of their own existence. There had been a time when the Order fought for the Republic, for peace and prosperity of the whole galaxy. They were fighting for survival, now when the Republic had turned a blind eye to pleas of their once protectors, the Senate declaring that religious disputes belong to them alone as long as both fractions remain loyal to the Republic. She understood their reasoning. While the Order fought in broad daylight, the Sith operated in the dark of the night, serving the Republic as spies and assassins on missions no one was supposed to know about. How could anyone believe even for a second that they were doing it without any secret agendas was beyond Rey. It was so _obvious_.

Her dark thoughts were interrupted by a faint tremor in the Force, and she followed it into one of the rooms. The inside was illuminated by the soft bluish light of the moons, and Rey treaded lightly into the room, observing the child sleeping fitfully on the cot. Of course, it had to be Temiri. He was particularly strong with the Force, and a bit of a troublemaker.

The boy was having a nightmare.

"Shhh, it's alright, it was just a bad dream," she whispered and gently touched the child's shoulder. Even as she was speaking the words, though, she got the feeling that he was not experiencing a simple nightmare. "Temiri?"

"Rey?" He jerked awake and sat up, wide brown eyes gazing straight into her, gasping for air. A chill ran through her when she saw the seed of truth in his gaze, the power of the Force fading from him quickly. "I saw him coming! He's coming here!"

"Who is coming, Temiri?" she asked slowly and reached to grab his other shoulder urgently, forcing the boy to look her in the eye. "Tell me, it might be important. Who is coming here? Is he dangerous?"

"It's him, the son of the Betrayer!"

 _Betrayer's son_. Rey clenched her teeth and turned her face away for a moment to master her expression. When Temiri started shaking, she sat next to him on the cot and nudged his shoulder with hers. Pushing all of her emotions away for the moment, she soothed the child, projecting peace around them like a large comforting bubble. "If Starkiller is coming here, let him come. Don't worry about that. I won't let him hurt you."

A Skywalker would never again have the opportunity to massacre innocent younglings; only over her dead body.

"But you don't understand, Rey! He's coming for you!"

Rey chuckled and shook her head. She couldn't sense any trace of the Force in Temiri's words – it was just a child's imagination talking. "I'll handle any Sith the life throws at me, I promise. Why don't you try to go back to sleep? I've heard Master Yoda has some special plans for your class for tomorrow."

As she was talking, she tucked Temiri back under the covers. The boy was an orphan and strangely mistrusting of strangers, but when Rey and her Master had come to bring him to the Temple, he had taken an immediate liking to her, while simultaneously disliking Ben on first sight.

"Alright," he mumbled, eyes already closing. "Will you wait until I fall asleep?"

"Sure." _One can mistake us for siblings_ , she mused. They shared the same eye and hair color, had similar personalities and the same fate. Perhaps that had been the reason why they got along so well. Rey even planned to take Temiri as her apprentice one day, if the boy would agree.

It took him only a few minutes to fall asleep. Rey tiptoed out of the door and then broke into a run, heading for Master Yoda's rooms. Children were the only ones that in their innocence were able to fully understand the vision they were experiencing, and if Temiri was saying that Starkiller was coming, then he was coming, and it was her duty to report that. Then there would be time to ask questions how the Sith Lord could know where to find them.

She was just running down the staircase leading from the students' wing of the Temple to the inner courtyard when something stopped her in the tracks.

The Force whispered a warning at the back of her mind. Someone was approaching the main gate, and after a moment, she felt their presence. It was like a cloud had moved across the skies and blocked the moons; it wasn't an entirely dark, aggressive presence of a Sith but it wasn't a light presence of a Jedi either.

She shuddered and changed directions, heading for the gate with her lightsaber in hand. Master Yoda certainly had felt the shift in the Force, hadn't he? Her Master would notice that something was amiss. She wouldn't be facing the immediate threat alone. Rey ignored her apprehension, locked it firmly away from her mind and heart.

The closer she got, the stronger the intruder's presence became. The color was electric blue, and the power it contained resembled a raging blizzard. She had felt the same amount of strength only once in her life in the Betrayer, when she had felt as her grandfather's presence had dissipated into the Force and as her brothers and sisters at the Temple had been dying one by one, their lives snuffed out cruelly like a candle's flame in the wind.

To Rey's shock, the gate was pushed open with the tremendous use of the Force, the massive blocks of durasteel moving slowly but steadily until the gate was wide open. Then she felt as the shields around the entrance flickered and went down. He had disabled them from there?

She stopped and peered into the shadows at the other side.

There was a cloaked figure, one hand still raised. The mist was swirling around him, and his eyes shone from under the hood with his power.

Unconsciously, Rey swallowed, and her hold on her lightsaber tightened.

"Who goes there!" she raised her voice even though she knew perfectly well his identity. Force signatures ran in the families, and she would recognize a Skywalker's even half dead.

"Who asks?" The voice sounded amused, and he lowered his arm, walking in. She could feel his eyes on her. "Aren't you a little young to be running around after the curfew, Padawan?"

"Stop where you are. That's the last warning you're going to get, intruder!" Rey's lightsaber came to life, coloring her face blue.

"Don't be silly, girl," he snorted dismissively and raised his hands to remove the hood.

 _Well, he asks for it_. Rey's expression remained calm and focused as she lunged at him, aiming at the knees. She could have just as easily go for the neck but decided against it. Her attack was unexpected and quick, but he managed to jump backward, growling. The hood slipped away from his head, and in a split of a second, the light of a red blade was illuminating his face.

He had a short, neatly trimmed beard, mussed up light hair and evenly cut features, the handsome bastard. Rey didn't dare to blink as her eyes bore into his. There were a surprise and a fair amount of irritation, and she felt his power swirl around him wildly, but she didn't look away, captivated by the depths of his gaze.

"Oh, so the kitty has claws," he said, and something in those depths shifted. His eyes flickered all over her face and then wandered down briefly. His lips turned into a sly smile. "Tell me, now that you have my attention, what are you going to do with it?"

Under his scrutiny, Rey's cheeks had heated up, and she felt a shiver ran down her spine. Her heartbeat picked up, her stomach clenched. She raised her chin defiantly together with her blade. "It's called dueling. You must have heard of it."

"You are too young to die, little one."

"I'm pretty sure you're not much taller than me," she said, and to her utter frustration, he turned off his lightsaber and tucked it back into his belt, spreading his arms wide.

"I'm at your mercy but using the lightsaber on me would be a murder, at least from my viewpoint. What's your name?"

"I asked first and still haven't gotten the answer."

"My, my, aren't you a feisty one? I wonder, does it transfer to other aspects of your life?"

He was grinning, fine lines of his face becoming prominent at that moment. The look in his gaze was intense and telling her what her body had already registered. The physical attraction had been instantaneous; the moment their eyes had met, something had sparked up between them.

"What's going on here?" A voice interrupted whatever answer Rey was about to give.

She startled and turned her head, ashamed that she had been so wrapped up in the confrontation that she had lost track of her surroundings. Her Master was approaching with long strides and was closely followed by Master Yoda, who was levitating on his usual metal disc.

"Uncle?" Ben stopped close to Rey, putting his left hand on her shoulder and gently nudging her to step aside. "What are you doing here? How did you get inside?!"

"Ah, I wondered when I'd see you, nephew." The man who was known as Starkiller, or Luke Skywalker once upon a time, had stopped smiling and looked up into his nephew's face. His gaze traveled between Ben's expression, over the hand he had on top of Rey's shoulder, and landed on her.

"Hope you don't mind me dropping by, sonny." He said with another slight smirk, and then he turned his attention to something behind them. "Ah! Master Yoda! So good to see you again!"

With that, Skywalker strode away from Rey and her Master, outstretching his hand. "There's something I need to discuss with you and what's left of the Jedi Council. Perhaps you could invite me inside for a cup of hot chocolate, hmm?"

"Skywalker changed much, you did not. Me you follow, then. Much to discuss, I sense, there truly is. Come, come!"

At that point, Rey felt stupid with her lightsaber still raised as the Temple Guards accompanied the unusual pair, and turned it off. Without looking at her Master, who was silently seething, she asked innocently, "So, I guess your uncle hasn't mentioned he'd like to visit?"

* * *

AN2: I feel I should also warn you that this story starts with Rey having a dangerous crush on Dark Luke. Ben starts off as a brotherly figure and only as the story progresses, more romantic feelings will develop. Also, Rey is a Padawan close to becoming a Jedi Knight, her age is 20, Ben's 27 and Luke is 46… And a powerful Sith warrior usually keeps himself in shape 8) That being said, please let me remind you that celebrities like Jeremy Renner, Jude Law, and Jared Leto are all in their mid-forties, and damn, it's perfectly natural to develop a crush on someone who's looking like that;)


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

"Certainly not." Ben Solo automatically moved to follow Master Yoda and his uncle, motioning for Rey to come along. They made three steps when Starkiller's voice reached them.

"Thanks, Ben, but I don't remember mentioning I needed to talk to you. You are dismissed, children."

"If you think even for a second, uncle, that I let a Sith Lord out of my sight, you must be crazy!"

Starkiller whirled around at lightning speed, and Rey actually took a step back when she caught the thunderous expression on the older man's face. His eyes flashed when he growled, "Watch your tongue, boy, you are speaking to your elder. The standards seem to be getting progressively lower and lower around here, Master Yoda, if you let such talks slide. Should I provide a demonstration of proper discipline?"

"You criticize the younglings will not, Skywalker." Yoda's answer was firm, and Rey wanted to cheer for the old Jedi Master. He didn't look perturbed even in the slightest by the menacing tone of their 'guest.' "And you discipline them will not, either!"

He turned to face Ben and Rey, giving them a rare approving smile. "Rest, you should go. The moment a Skywalker handle I cannot, I retire will."

Rey bit her lip in an attempt to mask her smile. The impulse disappeared the moment she looked at Starkiller. His eyes were trained on her mouth as if he would like to do the biting himself. Rey swallowed and unconsciously licked at the spot her teeth had touched a moment earlier. He raised his eyes to stare into hers, then, and Rey felt a fire explode inside of her belly and travel lower.

It lasted only an instant, and then Starkiller was bowing his head in Yoda's direction. "You know I would loathe losing your respect, Master, or robbing you of your dignity."

"So I would." Yoda graciously nodded, and for a moment, Rey had the strangest feeling that they both meant what they had said. They didn't want to duel, and they respected each other despite being on the opposite sides of an ancient war. What was even more startling was the realization that neither of them knew how such a fight could end.

"There's also the fact that the Guards will be stationed outside the door, I presume, so your Master is safe with me," Starkiller said to Rey. Glancing back at Ben, his eyes narrowed, and he just smirked. Then the Sith and Master Yoda were moving away from them rapidly, the Temple Guards following closely behind.

Ben clenched and unclenched his fists, his expression smooth and emotionless, and then he looked at Rey from the corner of his eye. "Sorry you had to see that."

"Not the warmest family reunion," she answered softly.

She had known Ben all her life; their families had been close to each other from the moment Rey's grandfather had saved Ben's grandmother's life. Rey had had plenty of opportunities to get to know him both as a Jedi and as a person. Ben had been emotional as a teenager, always ending up on the 'kiddy duty' back on Coruscant, and Rey had hated her curfew as a child. They had spent hours whispering back and forth when she had followed him around on his patrols. For someone so physically imposing and so gifted in the Force, Ben was surprisingly fragile inside and often fought hard for the tranquility of the Jedi.

Like now; there was a storm brewing in his eyes.

"Are you ok, Master?" she asked carefully, her voice polite and her eyes averted from the tall man, giving him a semblance of privacy so he could compose himself. Seeing his uncle must have been a shock for him, not that Ben ever talked about the Sith part of the family. Rey had no idea what he was feeling and was suddenly glad that her ancestors were not the ones responsible for the worst tragedy in the recent history of the Order. No, her family had been as Light as one could expect from one of the oldest Jedi lines in the galaxy.

"I'm fine." He nodded and then shrugged his broad shoulders and nudged her to move. "Come on, let's get back inside. Maybe it's a nightmare, and when I wake up in the morning, my uncle won't be anywhere near the Temple."

 _Having a Skywalker close certainly could make a Jedi uncomfortable_ , she mused as they made their way towards the staircase which led to the students' sleeping quarters. Meeting that particular Skywalker had gotten quite a reaction out of her. Just the memory of the intensity of Starkiller's look speeded up her heartbeat.

Ben stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking a deep breath. He glanced at Rey and then away from her, looking troubled. Ben was only a few years older than her, but with the numbers of Jedi Knights dwindling, even someone as young as Ben had had to take an apprentice and Rey had been the only logical choice. The rest of the children he had known from the Coruscant Temple were dead, and they had always been close.

"Uh, this is uncomfortable, but I need to address your behavior tonight, Padawan," he started, staring resolutely straight ahead.

 _Oh._ Rey stiffened, and her shoulders sagged. She should have seen that coming. Actually, it was a wonder that she hadn't been scolded by Yoda himself. "I suppose, Master."

"It's good that you are not shying away from danger, but if the situation ever repeats itself again, you are to call for the Temple Guards if you feel a threat approaching. Okay?"

"I was confident that you all felt… I mean, it's…" she stumbled over her words, finishing lamely, "He's hard to miss."

"That only adds to the urgency of what I'm trying to say here, Rey." Ben glanced at her, his dark eyes pleading. He wasn't talking to her as a Master to a Padawan but as a concerned friend. "Facing a Sith Lord is dangerous even for a seasoned Jedi, but I doubt many would dare to challenge my uncle the way you did. You're lucky he needed to talk to Yoda, and killing you wouldn't have won him any favors."

Rey nodded slowly and wondered what the hell she had thought when she had gone and tried to cut off Starkiller's calves. She shivered when she remembered how scared just a glimpse of his anger – and not even directed at her – had made her feel. But when he had focused on her, on the other hand… Her mouth went dry, and Rey knew she should stop thinking about Luke Skywalker in that light but… _He wasn't angry, he was intrigued, and it certainly didn't look like he wanted to run the lightsaber through me… probably got another impaling on mind…_

"…that note, I don't have any idea what he wants or how long he's going to be around but try to steer clear of him…"

"Yes, Mast-What?" Rey blinked and returned her attention back to her conversation with Ben, who was frowning at her. _Oh my, Ben hasn't picked up on the way his uncle was looking at me, has he?_

"I said it would be best not to get anywhere near my uncle. I didn't like the way he was looking at you."

 _Well, fuck._ She hoped Ben hadn't noticed the way she had been _returning_ that look. Cheeks coloring, Rey crossed her arms over her chest and tossed her head back, lifting her chin defiantly as she tried to stare the much taller man down without much success. "And how was the Sith looking at me, Master?"

Ben gave her an exasperated look and copied her posture, glaring down at her. "It doesn't take a genius, Rey, and he wasn't hiding how you've… uh… interested him. To be frank, I'm scared for you even if you don't seem to realize the danger you are in."

Rey didn't like the sound of that at all. "Honestly, Master, what are you implying here? That I would allow that… that… intruder to… It's against the rules until my apprenticeship is over!"

Her Master threw up his hands, yelling, "For Force sake, Rey! The Sith don't ask, they take!"

That hadn't crossed her mind at all. Just the idea of anyone behaving towards her in such a way… She paled and hugged her middle, deflating. When Ben saw what reaction his words had caused he shuffled awkwardly closer and reluctantly opened his arms, waiting. Rey stepped into him, and he embraced her, looking towards the skies.

"You really think that?" she asked, shivering. When Starkiller had been looking at her with that fire in his eyes, she hadn't felt threatened, quite the opposite. Rey, even though she was a Padawan still and therefore forbidden to form any relations of sexual nature, wasn't exactly a blushing virgin unaware of the facts of life.

"I don't know. It's… I didn't see my uncle in years. Whenever he had visited before, every time he had come, he had been darker and darker, and one day, he had stopped coming at all." Ben sighed and rested his chin on top of Rey's head. After a moment, she felt as he tried to project calmness around them and giggled, shaking her head.

"You've never been good at that, Ben."

He snorted and stepped away, sticking out his tongue at her. "Yeah, that's your specialty."

When they had relocated to Reeata, Rey had been having terrible nightmares, calling her grandfather's name repeatedly. Sometimes, she could have sworn that his presence had been with her, but mostly she had woken up to find uncomfortably looking Ben trying to calm her down.

 _We have to stick together,_ she thought and smiled at him. They both have an exceptional connection to the Force, and they both were burdened with their families' legacies. She was the last of her line, which had dated back hundreds of years, and he was the only Jedi in a family where every male had turned to the Dark Side. _Talk about pressure._

"I… Listen, Rey, I didn't want to scare you like that. Just… He is a dangerous stranger whose eye you've caught. Be careful, please, and don't go near him, at least not alone. Please?"

"Sure, Ben. Don't worry about me." Rey heaved a deep sigh and rose on her toes to plant a peck on Ben's cheek. "I'm lucky you're looking out for me."

"You'll do the same for me." He smiled broadly, looking relieved. "I better go and let you have your sleep. Your kiddy duty ended a few minutes ago. Good night, Rey."

"Good night, Master."

As Rey rushed up the stairs and then quickly walked towards her room, she couldn't stop thinking about the events of the night, questions about Luke Skywalker plaguing her mind long after she had gone to bed. What was he doing here and what did he want from them? Who exactly he was? Everyone in the Temple had heard of Starkiller, the son of the hated and cursed Lord Vader, but those were just rumors the Padawans exchanged during breaks in their lightsaber training. Rey decided to go to the archives and learn some hard facts about the man who was able to open gates and disable shield generators with a brief wave of his hand.

It was almost morning when she finally fell asleep, and when she did, she dreamt of a cloaked figure, reaching a hand towards her, and of Ben's voice whispering over and over again.

 _The Sith don't ask, they take._


End file.
